Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC Has $3.34 Million Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lessened its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 46.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 61,751 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 52,996 shares during the quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $3,342,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 147.1% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 1,906,740 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $103,193,000 after acquiring an additional 1,135,195 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 675.4% in the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 3,032 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $164,000 after purchasing an additional 2,641 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $575,103,000. Blair William & Co. IL increased its position in Williams Companies by 24.8% during the fourth quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 59,121 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $3,200,000 after buying an additional 11,750 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NEOS Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Williams Companies by 31.4% in the fourth quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 72,904 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $3,946,000 after buying an additional 17,420 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total transaction of $455,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 81,265 shares in the company, valued at $4,627,229.10. This represents a 8.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total transaction of $511,520.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 22,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,284,492.50. The trade was a 28.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278 in the last ninety days. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WMB. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $56.07.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMB traded down $2.62 during trading on Thursday, reaching $58.98. 11,516,921 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,524,561. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.92 billion, a PE ratio of 32.23, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.18 and a 52 week high of $61.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The company's 50 day moving average is $57.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $54.86.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.39%. This is a boost from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies's payout ratio is 109.29%.

Williams Companies Company Profile

The Williams Companies, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an energy infrastructure company primarily in the United States. It operates through Transmission & Gulf of Mexico, Northeast G&P, West, and Gas & NGL Marketing Services segments. The Transmission & Gulf of Mexico segment comprises natural gas pipelines; Transco, Northwest pipeline, MountainWest, and related natural gas storage facilities; and natural gas gathering and processing, and crude oil production handling and transportation assets in the Gulf Coast region.